Manual. This is all a biiiiiig experiment, because not only am I going to try to learn to hypermile on it eventually…it's also the first stickshift I've ever driven. So learning that comes first. It's not technically 'my' car yet, but it probably will be soon to replace my current POS van.

But I'm just wondering, what's a realistic expectation for both 'normal' and 'hypermile' driving while in the city??? From what I can tell, most techniques on this forum only apply to people with decent commutes that involve freeways or at least backroads. I'm in the city and I drive delivery for money, so there's a lot of…well, you know…city driving.

EPA says 28/36. Main driver says they get high 20's tops on the highway right and couldn't speculate what they get in the city, but I definitely don't know how into FE tracking they are. What's realistic for me? If I try hard enough, do you think I could get 30 city?

With very radical hypermiling and virtually no mods to the car you could double the roughly 31 mpg combined estimation. That's of course assuming that the car is operating effectively and is in good repair. City Driving doesn't necessarily have to be a disadvantage. It can be an advantage. Hypermiling is very tactical, and all sorts of things that one might normally assume are merely negatives can be not nearly as negative as you imagine. There are a lot of variables.

Now you have a stickshift you can learn to drive for real. Put it in neutral as much as possible.
My buddy had an 04 corolla and was getting 38-42. Just drive slow, study and understand the 100+ Hypermiling Tips on the top of the page.
Personally I record my driving with a camera and rewatch it later and see how un-eco it was and try and fix it next time.
City driving can be better then highway if you know the roads,only low power is needed to keep legal speed and almost no dangerous traffic, no problem coasting into the shoulder with 4ways to let other people pass, less aero drag at low speed. many more reasons, good luck buddy

I had a 95, and with no hypermiling at all, I usually ran it about 80 MPH down the interstate, cruise set with the ac on, and average 41 mpg. Never really tracked my in town mileage but I'm sure it was in excess of 30.

As has been stated, neutral is your friend, coast to stops in neutral, coast downhill in neutral.

What I haven't heard said is weight reduction: Not a lot of weight to shed in a small car like a Corolla but I'm sure there's some.

I use my Insight for pizza delivery driving, and am averaging mid-60s mpg in the winter and close to 80 mpg this summer. EPA is 48 city (think it was 61 city before the new ratings...).

You have a manual. Engine off coast down all the hills and when you're braking to a stop. Minimize braking, coast when you can to stops, but don't take coasting too extreme because you're on company time and need to be time efficient as well. Above all don't race to stops and slam on your brakes! That is the number one thing that kills people's city fuel economy. Car off as you approach all lights and intersections. Memorize the familiar roads and learn to drive them efficiently without wasting time. Slowing down helps economy a lot, but there are plenty of other driving techniques you can implement to improve economy without slowing down, especially in a manual transmission car.

Mount your pizza delivery sign as close to your front windshield as you can to minimize aero penalty, which is huge. Avoid taking the highway on delivery runs if you can - most company signs are terrible for aero. For example, I've used my mom's Prius for delivery driving occasionally when I've been working on my Insight. On the highway with the delivery sign the Prius only gets 36 MPG at 70 mph. Whereas if I stick to 59 mph or lower around town, just yesterday I got around 54 mpg delivering in the Prius.

With extensive ecomods I got close to 40 mpg delivering in an '04 Civic I had, which is pretty comparable to your Corolla, except that you have the advantage by having a manual transmission.

Air your tires up. Take them to the max sidewall, usually 44 PSI. If you want to be adventurous, run 60 PSI. Don't run 80 PSI like I do. At the lower speeds of driving, rolling resistance plays a huge factor in economy, often more so than even aero. Airing up your tires makes them more efficient and reduces your rolling resistance, thus improving economy.

Also follow normal driving techniques, i.e., always drive in the highest gear possible. Unless I'm at 30+ mph where I can lean burn (unrelated to this, but it's a pretty cool thing) the Insight is driving at 800-1000 RPM in the highest gear possible without lugging the car.

I predict you should be able to break over 40 mpg delivering, and get around 50 mpg in all other driving.

low to mid 30's seems pretty average, some in the 40's and one nearly hitting 60! So yeah, i'd say your goal of 30+ city should be pretty easy to obtain.

For city driving with plenty of traffic, neutral coasting to each stop is going to be critical. Learn to read the lights and memorize the timing and order the best you can per. Learn to hit those brakes early when you know a stop is coming up and think you can keep rolling as the light turns green and traffic will be moving (not always predictable, but always worth a try).

Mod wise, air up those tires! That's an easy one with the lowest risks and is easy to do. Depending on your speeds is weather investing time and money into a lot of aeromods will pay off. Even 30mph speeds benefit, though.